A Matter Of Survival
by Mirime Kisarrastine
Summary: Outbound Flight/Survivor's Quest "All this hatred and prejudice would have disappeared years ago if they’d had a true Jedi living and working in their midst." A what-if story. The Jedi is Lorana Jinzler and she has help from certain Chiss. Thrass/Lorana


So, this is my newest project. It starts out midway through Tim Zahn's Survivor's Quest and then takes a sharp turn to the right, going back to the Outbound Flight's ending with a twist, where the story starts for real. There will be spoilers for both of the mentioned books, so consider yourselves warned. Moreover, this fic is very focused on Thrass/Lorana pairing (am I the only one who likes it or what) and I have taken certain liberties with the plot. You shall see. It makes sense to me and hopefully will make sense to you as well. So enjoy....

Disclaimer: Star Wars as a whole belong to George Lucas. Most of the characters in this story were created by Tim Zahn (all hail the best SW author). I can claim only a couple of OCs and my pitiful attempt at bringing to life the romance that never was.

_"All this hatred and prejudice would have disappeared years ago if they'd had a true Jedi living and working in their midst." Dean Jinzler, Survivor's Quest_

* * *

Prologue

"So that is the Outbound Flight," Mara Jade Skywalker commented to her husband as the Chiss vessel set on an approaching course towards the planetoid that was the final resting place of the magnificent Jedi project. "It looks to be in a better shape than I thought it to be."

"It was Thrawn who destroyed it, remember," Luke replied, focusing on the sight in front of him. "He never was the type to indulge in widespread destruction."

"True," Mara agreed, frowning as she felt something brush her mind. She tried to focus on the feeling but it was gone as fast as it came. "Luke..." she spoke hesitantly.

"I know."

He was frowning, too, but it was with concentration, rather than confusion. Mara touched his Force sense with her own, felt him reach out to the crashed ships on the surface, joined him in the effort of sweeping through... and jerked back as she felt several presences respond to their contact. Trained presences...

"Luke..." she breathed out unbelievingly and turned to stare into his astonished eyes.

"I don't believe it, either," he replied to her unspoken thoughts, his voice shaking just a bit. There were people down there... And some of them were obviously trained in the using of the Force. Survivors of the Old Jedi Order... "Aristocra Formbi," Luke raised his voice to be heard by all in the room. "You won't believe this but it's true."

"What is it, Master Skywalker?" the old Chiss walked over to join them by the viewport. "Did you sense a danger?"

"No. No danger. But..." he paused, trying to formulate his answer before going with the straightforward approach. "There are living people down there. Outbound Flight is not dead."

* * *

The flurry of activity that followed Luke's proclammation should have been expected. From the initial disbelief, through stunned amazement to eventual planning on how to deal with the unexpected situation. In the end, it was decided that a small envoy would enter the ship as planned, but instead of holding a ceremony for those deceased long ago, they would be the first contact for people that had been stranded for fifty years.

Luke could hardly contain his excitement. This was more than he could hope for. Instead of a possibility of finding old records, he was presented with the certainty of meeting a genuine member of the Old Order. Someone able to answer his questions and assuage his worries. He stared almost impatiently at the connecting door in the tunnel that was being prepared for the delegation. Just beyond the door he could feel three presences that were obviously waiting for them.

"Calm down, Farmboy," Mara whispered from beside him. "You'll ruin your calm reputation."

"Sorry," Luke apologized, knowing his agitation was being transmitted to her through their bond. "I'll try."

Mara merely smirked and Luke almost groaned as she flung the old "Do or do not" saying at him through the Force. Opening of the pressurized door saved him from having to find a response and he took a deep breath before taking the first step into the insides of the Outbound Flight.

Their welcoming committee waited on the other side of the room that was thankfully large enough to hold them all without any trouble. There were two women and one man, though one of the women was in fact a young girl of barely ten. All of them showed a strong presence in the Force. The older one stepped forward.

"Hello strangers and welcome to the Outbound Flight," her voice had slightly raspy quality to it. "I hope this will be a peaceful and productive visit for you and us both."

She finished her speech with a little bow of her head to Luke, Mara, Jinzler and Fel with his stormtroopers before she turned towards the Chiss party and spoke again, this time in their difficult sounding language. Both Jedi could feel the surprise coming from Formbi and Feesa but the woman had already finished her speech with a complicated gesture that garnered a new ripple of surprise from the usually unreadable Chiss and felt it grow as she addressed Gerroons in a language that Luke vaguely remembered being called Minnisiat. Switching back to Basic, she turned once again to the Jedi.

"As those who arrived to us, would you introduce yourselves first, please?"

She turned to the other groups, about to repeat the plea in their languages but Formbi stopped her.

"All of us speak and understand Basic."

"Good," the woman smiled and Luke noted with a start that her eyes gleamed red for a moment. Focusing on her face a little more, he was startled to realize that her skin had a bluish tint to it, just like her black hair. It might have been a trick of light but something told him this woman wasn't a human. At least, not entirely. She looked at him expectantly, her dark red coloured eyes, as he now realized, trained on him.

"I am Jedi Master Luke Skywalker," he introduced himself and then gestured to Mara. "This is my wife, Jedi Knight Mara Jade Skywalker."

The woman raised an eyebrow at that but quickly composed herself and turned to Jinzler.

"Ambassador Dean Jinzler from the New Republic," he said and both Luke and Mara felt the shock that went through the woman, before she masked it quickly.

"Commander Chak Fel from the Empire of the Hand and my escort."

"Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano of the Fifth Ruling Family. This is my aide Chaf'ees'aklaio..."

The introductions were through very quickly and the woman gestured at her companions.

"This is Jorad Pressor, our Security Chief. Evlyn, our youngest Padawan," it was said with a fondness radiating from every word and a quick smile directed at the young girl. "And I am Patricia Jinzler..."

A gasp from Dean Jinzler echoed briefly but Patricia carried on.

"... also known as Mitth'ricia'safis. I am the current Elector, for all intents and purposes the leader of our people. If you would follow me, I'll take you to our home."

* * *

Their group followed their three guides through the winding corridors of the visibly repaired Dreadnaught. Some damage was evidently irreversible and hinted at how much worse it must have been years ago. Thricia, as she told them to call her, made an occasional comment but other than that, the group traveled in silence. Thricia explained that D4, the Dreadnaught they were on, was too exposed to the radiation so it was uninhabitated but they had still kept it in good shape, as it was the best passage to the surface in case someone arrived.

The inhabitants of the Outbound Flight made their living arrangements in the storage core and were slowly expanding to other Dreadnaughts, as well. They weren't afraid of running out of space for a long time, even though their numbers were more than twice the original number of fifty-nine survivors now. After half an hour of leisure walk they arrived at the turbolifts and took the turbolift cars to the storage core where the rest of the survivors waited for them.

"We felt you arrive," Thricia spoke as they walked through the corridor made up of people gazing with various expressions on the visitors. Evlyn slipped away as they passed a group of older children and Thricia watched her go with an amused shake of her head. "There are six fully trained Jedi among us. Maybe you would be kind enough to ascertain our level later on, Master Skywalker?" she turned towards Luke who just nodded in response. His mind was busy churning out theories about Thricia's origins. She was half-Chiss, that much was obvious. Her appearance, made all the more prominent by the better lightning in these parts, left no doubt. She even had her own Chiss name. And she was related in some way to Lorana Jinzler, as her other name indicated. But it was the Chiss part that bothered him. Where could a Chiss come from on the Outbound Flight?

"Thank you, Master Skywalker. There are also ten Padawans who are on the brink of finishing their training and seventeen others in various stages of training. You might want to see those, too."

"Yes, but for now I'd like to talk to the Jedi who trained you all."

"Very perceptive, Master Skywalker," she favoured him with a quick smile and flash of intense red in her eyes that appeared whenever she was pleased or happy with something. "The other members of the Governing Council are awaiting you in the Assembly Hall."

"You have a council?" Aristocra Formbi inquired. "I thought you said you were the leader."

"Elected leader, Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano," she pronounced it faultlessly. "I am merely a glorified spokesperson and manager elected for a period of five years. I make decisions together with the Council and they have to justify anything that is out of the ordinary. Outbound Flight was supposed to provide a home for people who felt oppressed by the byrocratic and despotic government and we stayed true to that goal."

They arrived at the door that were larger than others in the area and Thricia turned to them.

"The Governing Council of Outbound Flight is ready to welcome their visitors. Please, enter in safety and leave likewise."

The door swung open into a well-lit hall with a large rotund table in the middle, with five people sitting at it. Two places were unoccupied, obviously left for Pressor and Thricia. The five stood up and walked over to welcome their guests. While all five of them were interesting, two of them commanded most of the attention.

A Chiss male, with his hair going white and dressed in burgundy held hand of a darkhaired woman with kind grey eyes. It was obvious to both New Republic Jedi Knights that this woman was the Jedi responsible for training those Force-sensitives aboard. The woman looked over them all and when she stopped her gaze at Dean, she let a smile grace her face.

"Hello Dean," she spoke in a tightly controlled voice, stepping closer to him.

"Lorana..."

He didn't seem to be able to say anything else but it didn't matter because she hugged him suddenly and after an initial surprise, he returned her embrace. They stood there for a moment, everyone else staying silent out of consideration, feeling something momentous occuring. They parted after a couple of heartbeats and Lorana stepped back next to the Chiss, who wound one arm around her shoulders and pressed her closer to his side, wordlessly giving her comfort she sought. Thricia cleared her thought, breaking the emotionally charged scene.

"Allow me to introduce. Jedi Knight Lorana Jinzler and Syndic Mitth'ras'safis, formerly of the Eighth Ruling Family. Former Electors of the Outbound Flight and my parents."

To be continued

Well? Any comments?


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